Overnight Developments

• Global stocks are mixed with the European Euro Stoxx 50 Index down -0.45% and Sep S&Ps down -7.30 points. US Stock futures retreated and led European shares lower after IBM and Texas Instruments reported revenue that missed analysts’ estimates. Treasuries and the dollar are higher as the drop in stocks prompts an increase in safe-haven demand. Spain sold 6 billion euros ($7.8 billion) of Treasury bills, the maximum target for the auction, which pushed down the borrowing costs due to the increase in demand. Spain, which has to repay 24.7 billion euros of debt this month, has the third-largest deficit in the Euro-Zone and many of its banks are dependent on the ECB for funds. Greece sold 1.95 billion euros ($2.53 billion) of 13-week Treasury bills with a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.85, higher than last week’s 3.64, which shows strong demand and indicates an increase in investor confidence towards Greek government debt. Hungary, however, raised less than planned in a debt sale for a fourth time since June, which sent its borrowing costs soaring to a 19-week high and reignited concern about the ability to tame its budget deficit as the economy slows.
• The Asian markets today closed mixed with Japan down -1.15%, Hong Kong +0.86%, China +2.20%, Taiwan +0.81%, Australia +1.04%, Singapore +0.11%, South Korea +0.23%, India -0.28%. China’s Shanghai Stock Index closed higher after the International Strategy & Investment Group said China would relax polices that were aimed at curbing its housing industry as the economy faces a bigger risk from a slowdown than inflation. At a briefing in Beijing, China’s Commerce Ministry said that China’s domestic consumption will become the most important element of the nation’s economic growth in the future and that domestic consumption in the second half of this year will continue to grow at a relatively fast pace. Japanese stocks fell, led by declines in semiconductor-related stocks, after Texas Instruments reported disappointing profit and sales, while automakers and electronics companies also closed lower fell on concern demand from the US may falter after US home-builder confide nce sank to a 16-month low.

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Factors That Influence Forex Market Trends

The Foreign Exchange or Forex is the largest market today for stock trading, and it is continually growing with more and more people investing in it. However, as promising as this market may be when it comes to profit, like any other trade it can be very volatile as well.

It is therefore important to be familiar with certain factors that influence trends in the Forex market if you are decided in joining this arena. After all, acquainting yourself with the many scenarios that can cause currencies to go up or down can help you a lot in making decisions for when to buy or sell.

There are basically three major factors that affect the Foreign Exchange –a country’s economy, political conditions and market psychology.

Economy

Economic factors are the most basic things that create changes in a country’s currency. When such economic conditions as a budget deficit or surplus is present within a country, there will surely be reactions in the market and values will be reflected on currencies. Other conditions may also include inflation trends, and the general economic growth of the country.

The more prosperous a country’s economy is, the more investors will be able to adhere to doing trade in a more positive attitude. Such indicators as a growth in a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), employment levels and retail sales among others will basically attract more investors and that nation’s currency value will likely go up.

Political Conditions

Another very important factor that influence trends in Forex, are the conditions of a country’s political sector. This is because political instability or turmoil can generally create negative fluctuations to an economy. But if such instances occur wherein a country may rise above political obstacles, the opposite may occur and the economy may improve.

Events in a region can surely create negative or positive interest among investors for a nation’s currency. And so, such conditions surely influence the trends for demands and prices of a certain currency.

Market Psychology

Of course, the perception of traders and investors will greatly influence the Foreign Exchange market in so many ways. After all, the market is highly dependent on whether or not people would want to invest on a country’s economy in order to determine whether currency prices will go up or down.

For example, such conditions wherein unsettling international events may happen, then under the “flight of quality” rule, people would generally want to look for a safe haven for their investments. Whenever there is a greater demand for a certain country’s economy, then a higher price will be given to buyers and the currency’s value will go up and become stronger.

Other events that contribute to traders’ perceptions may be long-term trends where people invest based on what they have seen for a long period and time, and even economic numbers where people may base their investments depending on what numbers show a greater value.

The market in Foreign Exchange is often unpredictable and fluctuating. Therefore if you are interested in doing trades in this market, make sure that you take the time to be knowledgeable about good strategies that can help you play the game.

But more importantly, keep in updating yourself with the different economic trends in the international scene. After all, this currency market would greatly revolve upon events that would occur in the different countries. Familiarizing yourself with the factors that affect the Forex will surely help you make better decisions.